Taiwan’s tax revenues last month posted a sharp drop, as a deadline extension for income tax filings and subdued capital market activity weighed heavily on collections, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Tax revenues totaled NT$313.5 billion (US$10.48 billion), down 48.6 percent from a year earlier, attributable mainly to a one-month extension in income tax filing from May 31 to June 30 to buffer against potential fallout from US tariff policy shifts, the ministry said.
Corporate income tax revenue plunged 92 percent to NT$21.7 billion, while personal income tax fell 36.3 percent to NT$42.3 billion, reflecting the deferred filing schedule, ministry statistician Liu Shun-rong (劉訓蓉) said.
Photo: CNA
The securities transaction tax revenue, a bellwether for investor sentiment, shrank 34 percent to NT$18.2 billion, marking the largest contraction in more than two years and the third consecutive month of decline, Liu said.
Average daily turnover on the Taiwan Stock Exchange stood at NT$390.7 billion last month, down 26.7 percent from a year earlier, as global macro uncertainties and US government debt concerns sidelined investors, she said.
“Although the local bourse rebounded in early May on optimism over US-China trade de-escalation and sustained artificial intelligence investment momentum, sentiment cooled later due to profit-taking and lingering tariff risks,” Liu said.
Real estate-related tax collections softened further amid weakening transactions and unfavorable lending terms, she said.
Land value increment tax revenue slumped 35.1 percent to NT$5.4 billion, the lowest in two years, while deed tax fell 29.1 percent to NT$1.3 billion, Liu said.
That came as most major municipalities, including New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung, reported double-digit retreats in property transactions last month from a year earlier, she added.
Cumulative tax revenues for the first five months of the year came in at NT$1.02 trillion, representing a 23 percent annual decline and behind the ministry’s target by 24.4 percent, Liu said.
However, things would improve this month as corporations and individuals would file their income tax from last year’s earnings, helped by TAIEX rallies, the ministry said.
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